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randyt

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I was thinking today about some core tools that I would be lost without. There are lots of tools .

The chainsaw. Probably the king of tools. I use one nearly every day.

A chainfall. I dont use one often but when i do, it is handy. I use it for pulling horizontally as much as lifting things up. I have a cheap 1 ton from tractor supply. Just today i pulled a tractor on to a trailer.

A high lift jack. These darn things have a lift. Mine are 4 foot. Wished I had got the 5 foot jack or even longer. Dont use one often but when i do .nothing will do the job like a high lift jack.

Been thinking about adding a rope come along to the mix.
 
I was thinking today about some core tools that I would be lost without. There are lots of tools .

The chainsaw. Probably the king of tools. I use one nearly every day.

A chainfall. I dont use one often but when i do, it is handy. I use it for pulling horizontally as much as lifting things up. I have a cheap 1 ton from tractor supply. Just today i pulled a tractor on to a trailer.

A high lift jack. These darn things have a lift. Mine are 4 foot. Wished I had got the 5 foot jack or even longer. Dont use one often but when i do .nothing will do the job like a high lift jack.

Been thinking about adding a rope come along to the mix.
Come alongs and chain binders are both pretty handy.

Other things I've found useful on the farm, that apply to any rural self sufficient place - a hydraulic porta-power, bottle jacks, 4 foot or larger steel pry bars, acetylene torch, pneumatic or battery powered grease gun. I'm sure there's a lot more that I'm forgetting...
 
When you live a long way from the stores, it’s spare parts and a great assortment of nuts, bolts, screws, nails, springs, etc that will get you through the day.

As far as tools, my side by side or 4 wheelers are my constant daily use tool. Chainsaws, shovels, 5 gallon buckets, wrenches, socket wrenches, screw drivers, etc are almost all daily uses.

We have extensive gardens, so our hoedag’s get daily use. Hard to imagine having a garden without a hoedag.
 
Tractor with front end loader, back hoe, bush hog, tiller & box blade.
One horse Sickle mower & hay rake.
A chainsaw & cross cut hand saw.
A PTO post hole auger & a hand post hole digger, with packing tools.
A three point hitch turn plow & a horse pulled turn plow.
Hand clippers, loppers & machete for pruning.
Pointed & square shovel, hoe, yard & garden rakes, grab hoe & potato fork, pitch fork, wheel barrows, large & small. Five & two & half pound ax, splitting maul, sledgehammer & wedges, hatchet & hunting knife.
Two mule wagon & truck & trailers, three different size trailers is a good ideal.
Animal harness means leather tools, repair kit & supplies.
Anvil & smith pole vise, tool shed for repairs in bad weather.
Then there are a hold lot of hunting & fishing gear for the homestead.
A saw mill & chipper is a plus, if you have a wood lot.
A greenhouse & high tunnel, plus a root cellar are good all around food supply. Then there a smoke house for curing meats & a spring house for chesses & butter storage & ripening.
If you were not raised on this culture, then the Fox Fire books can help with making & using these tools & skills.
 
Some nice lists, I don't think I saw air compressor or generator, both pretty important in my world, and a hand truck, saves a lot of back ache.
 
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The most important tools threads are always interesting, I find that once you get a few tools then other tools migrate in to join them. And tools seem to have a way of making them selves indispensable.
 
The most important tools threads are always interesting, I find that once you get a few tools then other tools migrate in to join them. And tools seem to have a way of making them selves indispensable.
The problem with indispensable tools, is that most of them are only indispensable once in a while...

Now, my pliers, vise grips, interchangeable screwdriver, flashlight, and knife - I use those, along with 9/16, 3/4, 7/8, and 1 1/8 wrenches, nearly every day at work...
 
The problem with indispensable tools, is that most of them are only indispensable once in a while...

Now, my pliers, vise grips, interchangeable screwdriver, flashlight, and knife - I use those, along with 9/16, 3/4, 7/8, and 1 1/8 wrenches, nearly every day at work...
It was that way at work, but hardly ever away from work.
I fixed my plumbing & a few friends from time to time.
I do some of my auto repair, but that's it.
So I have vise, jacks, chain fall & all kinds of mechanic tools, I do not use much, my son use them some for his side jobs.
 
I've got one of those heavy duty plastic Craftsman things that has drawers...well, there is so much in it, that the slide support for the drawers is sagging down a bit and makes it harder to open the drawers. Not sure what to do about that. How much do you think it weighs? Heavier than I can lift, I'm sure.
Upthread a ways @Alaskajohn was saying: "it’s spare parts and a great assortment of nuts, bolts, screws, nails, springs, etc that will get you through the day." I don't live far from the stores right now, but my husband sure did have a lot of what you guys are talking about and it feels dumb to get rid of any of it. But I'm also kind of frustrated having so much stuff that for the most part, I don't use. I keep it for my sons and the rare occassion I have to rewire, repair, etc. stuff that needs attention.
I even have a big A air compressor.
 
A good selection of red oak timbers cut 6x6 up to 12 or 14x14 are very handy things to have around. More than once I've had to take a tractor apart in a hayfield and replace the clutch, literally separate the tractor into halves. Large wooden blocks are great for holding up tons of weight.

I keep several short ones in the shop to use like small anvils, 12 or 18" long. They are lite and easy to move around if I need to set an engine down, chock a tire or pound on something.

A seasoned red oak beam is tough stuff, can take a pounding from 3lb hammer.
 
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I agree. I have used concrete blocks & wooden blocks to move or hold up a lot of machinery. I use a chain fall also.
 
We've always kept a lot of timbers around. We lose big trees to storms occasionally and there's a small sawmill just down the road. I can remember taking logs to be cut there when I was a kid. Gotta have some timbers around and they are fairly cheap to mill.
 
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I've got one of those heavy duty plastic Craftsman things that has drawers...well, there is so much in it, that the slide support for the drawers is sagging down a bit and makes it harder to open the drawers. Not sure what to do about that. How much do you think it weighs? Heavier than I can lift, I'm sure.
Upthread a ways @Alaskajohn was saying: "it’s spare parts and a great assortment of nuts, bolts, screws, nails, springs, etc that will get you through the day." I don't live far from the stores right now, but my husband sure did have a lot of what you guys are talking about and it feels dumb to get rid of any of it. But I'm also kind of frustrated having so much stuff that for the most part, I don't use. I keep it for my sons and the rare occassion I have to rewire, repair, etc. stuff that needs attention.
I even have a big A air compressor.
Hey Patch, maybe you should go through it when you get some spare time. Take everything out and photograph it. Tools are hot items for thieves and it will help if you ever have to make an insurance claim. Also could help if you ever decide to downsize your stuff, you'll know what's there so you can put a value on it for sale.
 
the names of tools is interesting and how it changes over the years and by region, when I read Chain falls, a closed loop differential chain hoist pops into my head, so When I used a search engine to see what came up it was what mostly ratcheting chain hoists, often refered to as a chain come along. Kind of like the terms crescent wrench (adjustable open end wrench) and Vise grips (over center adjustable locking pliers, now severely degraded by Irwin tool)
Sort of like Cat means crawler tractor to most people. and BobCat means skid steer loader.
 
the names of tools is interesting and how it changes over the years and by region,

I run into this issue with all sorts of farm equipment. The French came to Alabama in the mid-1500's, 50years before the english arrived in James town.

The english spoken here is greatly influenced by french, even syntax and sentence structure. Since the internet came along I sometimes trace the origins of words we use that are different than farmers in other parts of the country.

For instance... recently I learned a beam scale I have that was commonly used by farmers. It's known locally as a "Pea Scale". Most think its named after a vegetable... The name of the scale came from the french word for weight=poids or P scale.
 
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That regional difference in tool names is crazy. Cutting pliers are called "side cutters" or sometimes "nippers" where I come from. I never heard them called "dikes" until a few years ago. I was helping a mechanic work on my machine and he asked me to hand him the dikes. I was completely clueless...
 
the names of tools is interesting and how it changes over the years and by region, when I read Chain falls, a closed loop differential chain hoist pops into my head, so When I used a search engine to see what came up it was what mostly ratcheting chain hoists, often refered to as a chain come along. Kind of like the terms crescent wrench (adjustable open end wrench) and Vise grips (over center adjustable locking pliers, now severely degraded by Irwin tool)
Sort of like Cat means crawler tractor to most people. and BobCat means skid steer loader.
Yeah what happened to both the "real" Crescent wrenches and Vise Grips is a shame. High quality American tools that turned into China made junk...
 
I had the same problem, a guy ask me to hand him the "Blondie".
I said what? he pointed to the dikes & said " the Blondie", seem he knew a gay woman who went by "Blondie", so he thought he was cute. I was lost until he told me what he meant.
{most likely derives its nickname from a blend of the term “diagonal cutters.”} So it has nothing to do what what you do behind close doors.
 

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